Artisan Radio Streaming is Down

@artisan-radio Are you having very high heat the same as we are here in the Mid-Mississippi River Valley? I believe I am right in expecting such intense heat to cause internet equipment outages. To my knowledge our streaming system is holding steady but it wouldn't be surprising to become baked, roasted and boiled. Pour cold water on it.

No, it's actually been quite cool here.

Yesterday, the fan on the computer went on high and stayed there, which is unusual.  It's a headless server, and has an information display on the front, with IP address, drive count for its RAID controller, etc.  The information being displayed was erroneous.

Streaming was working, but if a worse hardware failure is imminent, I'd rather take the time to investigate.  Rebooting didn't help.  I'll put up a temporary server if this takes a while.

We have a temporary streaming server up and running while we attempt to problem solve our original one.

It's interesting that there's not so much radio any more in radio - a lot of it is computers and computer problem solving.  Even a piece of audio equipment these days is really a computer in a sexy looking box.

Even the radios like Sangean, Tecson, are little computer chips doing the functions.
Things as simple as the screen light that turns off after 10 seconds. Or station storage and tuning modes.
But I think the Schlockwood I use for processing is all analog processing. All through hole components and hundreds of transistors

The new computer-based way of producing a radio station is only a 'different' way, mechanically speaking, of coming up with the same product: namely a string of radio programs. A lot of heavy equipment is eliminated, although many of us are romantically attached to 'the old way' of having huge mixing boards, massive turntables, and reel-to-reel decks. But there is one way in which live radio or podcast production is very much the same as it was in the past: recording a live radio program with microphones, a mixing board, large table and some nice chairs.

Yes there are some advantages of computer automation vs before, when, to do what we do, with tape recorders and turntables/records is that you would have to sit with it all the time managing and can you imagine being on 24/7 and also never just be able to listen to your own broadcast! But commercial stations are a different story and was much better with an on air DJ playing records. I remember several times the records skipped on air. Automation made it better for us but ruined good commercial radio.

@mark You are totally right, Mark. The 'old style' live DJ style was great for listening. I never worked with CD disk players or computer audiofiles back when I was a DJ. I cued up vinyl records and slapped tape cartridges in endless loop tape players and even threaded spools of magnetic tape on huge Ampex tape decks. It was an art. All this while answering telephone calls from listeners.

While I'm waiting for the suspect server to initialize (a lengthy process that takes over a day as the RAID drives have to be formatted and that process is slooooow), I thought I'd share a random thought or two.

I went over to the other Forum, and saw a post about installation of a ground wire in the webmaster's new studio. Then I realized that he's never discussed his actual radio transmitter installation as far back as I can remember.  There aren't even photos posted in his station profile pages (although a few others are featured - I still find it amusing that one clearly shows a Whole House 3 transmitter operating, and we all know how that site feels about Part 15 FM and that transmitter in particular).

Given the site's strict stance on the rules and illegal broadcasting, including their claims that they know everything about everything (and others just copy them), you'd think that he would show the world how it should be done.

On another note, today was PRIDE day here in Pitt Meadows, and I just attended a concert by the great group Queer As Funk.  For representing people who are discriminated against routinely, they certainly had upbeat music (and the crowd loved it).  I guess it's all about hope for a better future.

I think I mentioned this point last year after I attended their concert.  You could clearly hear the band several hundred meters away, and BETS/RSS210 radio stations don't have much greater range (particularly on warm humid days like today).  Yet there are no ISED rules limiting the audio field strength of such concerts (except, perhaps, local time-related noise laws).  A Part 15 certified FM transmitter would be hard pressed to even get that range unless you were listening in your car.

Why should radio wave strength be limited far more than audio waves?

And another thing...

Way back when I came across a low power radio station in Ontario called VanKleek FM.  They operated on the same frequency I was using on Bowen Island, but supposedly had call letters and a frequency assigned to them.  It was only later that I figured out that they must have had an RSS123 license.  I still wondered about their ability to compete with commercial stations, as they apparently played music and had other programming.

Well, it turns out that someone at Industry Canada or ISED must have read the riot act to them.  You can get an RSS123 license for an information service, but not to broadcast to the general public, including playing music (strictly speaking, RSS123 is not a broadcast license and doesn't fall under the umbrella of the CRTC - to broadcast, you require a license not only from ISED but from the aforementioned CRTC).  I came across the station's website and they're still around, except that over-the-air, they only broadcast community announcements.  To get their full programming, including music, you have to tune into their streaming channel.

They could use a BETS transmitter to broadcast music over-the-air, but their range would probably suffer.  Although they used to use a Decade MS-100 operating at a full 1 milliwatt, which doesn't give them all that much more range than that same transmitter tuned to BETS levels).  They claimed (back in the 2000's) to get a range of between 1/4 to 1/2 km, but like most claims, it's unclear what that really means.  To what kind of receiver? Over what kind of topography? Totally clear signal or lots of noise?

I couldn't find out what they use today.  RSS-123 allows for up to 1 watt of effective power, so they could have moved on to a, say, Decade 800 or something else.

Found this directory of ULP(ultra low power) stations licensed and unlicensed in Ontario and the Vankleek station is there as of July 2022. There is one there, the first one on the list that is a pirate station(as named) in Toronto's Parkdale area at an illegal frequency.
I wonder how the unlicensed ones get on this list?, like BETS? Vankleek Hill is a town in eastern Ontario. The power in watts is listed and if there is call letters it is licensed but still ULP.
https://www.dxinfocentre.com/ulp-on.htm

@mark That's a very awesome chart! It reminds me of a Dial-Scale Chart I kept for a long time on my Part 15 page at my website in which I listed stations known to us with their frequency and location. I should dig that out from the archives and donate it to part15org.

One station on Mark's list has my interest. It is Senator Hotel station CFT-438, 107.5 MHz, power 0.1 W. My question is, what does the hotel do with an FM station?

Senator Hotel Website

I don't see mention of it on the Main Page, although there is a plentiful Blog where something might be found.

The licensed stations (with call signs) are operating under RSS-123.  In the eyes of ISED/CRTC you are not broadcasting, but are providing an information service over a localized area with specific boundaries (such as the property of a hotel, or travel information to tourists).  Music is frowned upon and specifically prohibited in some uses, as that is generally in the realm of broadcasting.  Musical interludes are OK.

That's why Vankleek FM split their programming, with the bulk of it streaming.  The station was owned by a former DJ (from the CBC, I believe), but that was a while ago.

Most people don't understand the differences between RSS-123, BETS and RSS-210, even those that should (such as Hobbybroadcaster, which in their station directory states that RSS-210 governs legal, unlicensed low power broadcasting in Canada - WRONG!).

I was considering going for an RSS-123 license for Artisan Radio, and using short OTR programs (non musical) as interludes between community announcements.  I don't know how ISED (or the CRTC) would look at that.

There's a car dealer in Mississauga, a city just west of Toronto that advertise a dealership and it can be received for 1 kLm around the dealership(or slightly less).
Probably RSS-123 as BETS wouldn't get that coverage. I went in a couple of years ago and asked to see the transmitter but they said not allowed.
That first one called pirate at an outside frequency got on the list but how? I know that's not legal and outside the capability of a legal transmitter.
What I want to know is how could I get on that list? All the ones that have no power rating are I assume BETS stations using a Decade. That Parkdale pirate first on the list was I think mentioned a few years ago on this forum as he got an interview in the Star, a large newspaper in Toronto but read all over Canada. I thought at the time that was just sealing his coffin as the agents read the paper also.
But it seems that to get on this list now I looked you have to be providing travel information.